System and Method for Multi-Market Risk Control in a Distributed Electronic Trading Environment

ABSTRACT

A system and method are provided for distributed risk management. According to one example embodiment, a central risk controller is provided that can communicate with a plurality of local risk management modules located at a plurality of gateways. The central risk controller may allocate a portion of a central account balance associated with a trading account to each local risk management module. Then, as the trades are made using the trading account, the local risk management modules may manage risk associated with the trades until the local account balance is insufficient. As the account balance gets low, the local risk management module may query the central risk controller for the additional risk account balance.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/449,125 filed Jul. 31, 2014, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/048,748 filed Oct. 8, 2013, now U.S. Pat.No. 8,825,543, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 11/241,169 filed Sep. 30, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,583,534, thecontents of each of which are fully incorporated herein by reference forall purposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention is directed to electronic trading. Morespecifically, the present invention is directed towards a system andmethod for risk management in an electronic trading environment.

BACKGROUND

Trading methods have evolved from a manually intensive process to atechnology enabled, electronic platform. With the advent of electronictrading, a user or trader can be in virtually direct contact with themarket, from practically anywhere in the world, performing nearreal-time transactions.

Electronic trading is generally based on a host exchange, one or morecomputer networks, and client devices. In general, the host exchangeincludes one or more centralized computers to form the electronic heart.Its operations typically include maintaining an exchange order book thatrecords unexecuted orders, order matching, providing price and orderfill information, and managing and updating a database that records suchinformation. The host exchange is also equipped with an externalinterface that maintains uninterrupted contact to the client devices andpossibly other trading-related systems.

Using client devices, traders link to the host exchange through one ormore networks to trade tradeable objects. As used herein, the term“tradeable object” refers to anything that can be traded with a quantityand/or price. It includes, but is not limited to, all types of tradedevents, goods and/or financial products, which can include, for example,stocks, options, bonds, futures, currency, and warrants, as well asfunds, derivatives and collections of the foregoing, and all types ofcommodities, such as grains, energy, and metals. The tradeable objectmay be “real,” such as products that are listed by an exchange fortrading, or “synthetic,” such as a combination of real products that iscreated by the user. A tradeable object could actually be a combinationof other tradeable objects, such as a class of tradeable objects.

A client device is a computer such as a personal computer, laptopcomputer, hand-held computer, and so forth that has network access. Anetwork is a group of two or more computers or devices linked togetherin any fashion, which can be characterized by topology, protocol, andarchitecture. For example, some market participants may link to the hostthrough a direct network connection such as a T1 or ISDN. Someparticipants may link to the host exchange through direct networkconnections and through other common network components such ashigh-speed servers, routers, and gateways that allow a trader to connectto an electronic exchange. The Internet, a well-known collection ofnetworks and gateways, can be used to establish a connection between theclient device and the host exchange. There are many different types ofwired and wireless networks and combinations of network types known inthe art that can link traders to the host exchange.

Sometimes, on their machines, traders use automated or semi-automatedtrading tools, collectively hereinafter referred to as automated tools,that automatically or semi-automatically send orders for tradeableobjects to the exchange. Many different trading tools are usuallyprovided to, among other things, facilitate fast and accurate orderentry. For instance, an automated tool might quickly calculate one ormore order parameters, such as order price or order quantity, based onmarket conditions, or some other reference condition, and thenautomatically send an order with these parameters to an exchange formatching. According to many existing and popular exchanges today, thespeed with which an order gets from a trading station to an exchange iscrucial, since orders are electronically entered in an exchange orderbook in the sequence in which they are received at the exchange (afirst-in, first-out, commonly referred to as FIFO matching system).Based on this sequence, and the availability of market quantity, ordersare filled, with priority given to the first order entered, then thesecond (next) order entered, and so forth. It should be understood thatdifferent matching algorithms, such as, for example, pro rataalgorithms, could be used as well.

Many existing trading environments use risk management systems to ensurethat a trader does not enter into trades that could potentially resultin exceeding a trader's credit limit, or yet some other preset riskparameters, such as a maximum net position that a trader is willing tohold at any given time, for example. While some traders are soleproprietors who risk their own money while trading, others often tradefor larger trading groups, such as trading houses. Larger trading groupsoften use a centralized risk management component that controls andmanages global risk as well as risk related to each individual trader.Using such a system, every time a gateway receives an order request fromone of the traders in the trading house, the gateway has to communicatewith a centralized risk management component to determine if theproposed trade would not take the trader over the risk limitspreconfigured for the trader who initiated the order or/and risk limitsdefined for the trading house. Once the gateway receives a responseallowing the proposed trade to be sent to an exchange, the trade may beforwarded to the exchange.

While such risk control systems provide an effective risk controlmechanism, they also slow down trading. In the centralized risk controlsystem, when the centralized risk management component receives requestsfrom many gateways, the component puts the requests in its internalqueue and processes them in the order they were received, thus, creatingunnecessary delays at the gateways that have to wait for a response fromthe central component. The order delay problems grow exponentially asthe trading house uses automated trading tools that may generatehundreds of orders per second, thus, creating a bottleneck of requestsat the centralized risk management that consequently slows down thespeed with which the orders get to the exchanges. Thus, it is desirableto offer tools that will not only provide the benefits of thecentralized risk control systems, but will also solve order latencyproblems.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Example embodiments are described herein with reference to the followingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a trading system for electronic trading according toan example embodiment, wherein the trading system includes a tradingstation where a trader can submit bids and offers for a tradeable objectbeing traded at an electronic exchange;

FIG. 2 illustrates another trading system for electronic tradingaccording to another example embodiment, wherein the trading systemincludes a trading station where a trader can submit bids and offers fora tradeable object being traded at more than one electronic exchange;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example distributed risk management system, inwhich, the example embodiments for distributed risk management may beemployed;

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart describing one example method forallocating a risk account balance to a local risk management module;

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart describing one example method for usingand managing a risk account balance at a local risk management module;

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart describing one example method forshifting an account balance between two local risk management modules;and

FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate a flowchart that illustrates an examplemethod for automatically monitoring and allocating an additional accountbalance at a local risk management module.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

I. Overview

Example systems and associated methods described below provide means forrisk control in a distributed electronic trading environment. Accordingto one example method, a central risk management may establishcommunication with a local risk management. Upon establishing thecommunication, the local risk management module may receive from thecentral risk management module a portion of a central risk accountbalance to create a local risk management balance for a trading account.When the local risk management module receives an order request from atrading entity using the trading account, the local risk managementmodule may determine if there is a sufficient balance available in thelocal account balance to forward the order request to a computerizedmatching process. If the balance is sufficient, the local riskmanagement may forward the order request to the computerized matchingprocess without any need to communicate with the central risk managementmodule. The central risk management module may replenish the localaccount balance either automatically or upon receiving a request fromthe local risk management module. Additional embodiments related to riskmanagement according to the example embodiments will be described below.

While the example embodiments are described herein with reference toillustrative embodiments for particular applications, it should beunderstood that the example embodiments are not limited thereto. Othersystems, methods, and advantages of the present embodiments will be orbecome apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of thefollowing drawings and description. It is intended that all suchadditional systems, methods, features, and advantages be within thescope of the present invention, and be protected by the accompanyingclaims.

II. A First Example Trading System

FIG. 1 illustrates an example electronic trading system in which theexample embodiments may be employed. In this example, the systemcomprises a trading station 102 that accesses an electronic exchange 104through a gateway 106. Router 108 is used to route messages between thegateway 106 and the electronic exchange 104. The electronic exchange 104includes a computer process (e.g., the central computer) that matchesbuy and sell orders sent from the trading station 102 with orders fromother trading stations (not shown). The electronic exchange 104 may listone or more tradeable objects for trade. While not shown in the figurefor the sake of clarity, the trading system may include other devicesthat are specific to the client site like middleware and securitymeasures like firewalls, hubs, security managers, and so on, asunderstood by a person skilled in the art.

The computer employed as the trading station 102 generally can rangefrom a hand-held device, laptop, or personal computer to a largercomputer such as a workstation and multiprocessor. An illustrativepersonal computer uses Pentium™ microprocessors and operates under aWindows 2000™, Windows NT™, or Windows XP™ operating system. Generally,the trading station 102 includes a monitor (or any other output device)and an input device, such as a keyboard and/or a two or three-buttonmouse to support click based trading, if so desired. One skilled in theart of computer systems will understand that the present exampleembodiments are not limited to any particular class or model of computeremployed for the trading station 102 and will be able to select anappropriate system.

The computer employed as the gateway 106 generally can range from apersonal computer to a larger computer. An illustrative gateway 106computer uses Pentium™ microprocessors and operates under a Windows2000™ or Windows NT™ (server or workstation) operating system.Generally, the gateway 106 may additionally include a monitor (or anyother output device), input device, and access to a database, if sodesired. One skilled in the art of computer systems will also understandthat the present example embodiments are not limited to any particularclass or model of computer(s) employed for the gateway 106 and will beable to select an appropriate system.

It should be noted that a computer system that may be employed here as atrading station or a gateway generally includes a central processingunit, a memory (a primary and/or secondary memory unit), an inputinterface for receiving data from a communications network, an inputinterface for receiving input signals from one or more input devices(for example, a keyboard, mouse, etc.), and an output interface forcommunications with an output device (for example, a monitor). A systembus or an equivalent system may provide communications between thesevarious elements.

It should also be noted that the trading station 102 generally executesapplication programs resident at the trading station 102 under thecontrol of the operating system of the trading station 102. Also, thegateway 106 executes application programs resident at the gateway 106under the control of the operating system of the gateway 106. In otherembodiments and as understood by a person skilled in the art, thefunction of the application programs at the trading station 102 may beperformed by the gateway 106, and likewise, the function of theapplication programs at the gateway 106 may be performed by the tradingstation 102.

The actual electronic trading system configurations are numerous, and aperson skilled in the art of electronic trading systems would be able toconstruct a suitable network configuration. For the purposes ofillustration, some example configurations are provided to illustratewhere the elements may be physically located and how they might beconnected to form an electronic trading system; these illustrations aremeant to be helpful to the reader, and they are not meant to belimiting. According to one example illustration, the gateway device maybe located at the client site along with the trading station, which isusually remote from the matching process at the electronic exchange.According to this instance, the trading station, the gateway, and therouter may communicate over a local area network, and the router maycommunicate with the matching process at the electronic exchange over aT1, T3, ISDN, or some other high speed connection.

In another example illustration, the client site may be located on theactual grounds of the electronic exchange (for example, in the buildingof the exchange). According to this instance, the trading station, thegateway, and the router may still communicate over a local area network,but the router may communicate with the matching process at theelectronic exchange through another connection means besides a T1, T3,or ISDN.

In yet another example illustration, the gateway may be housed at, ornear, its corresponding electronic exchange. According to this instance,the trading station may communicate with the gateway over a wide areanetwork or through the use of a T1, T3, ISDN, or some other high speedconnection.

In another example illustration, the gateway may be located remote fromthe trading station and remote from the electronic exchange, which mightbe particularly useful in systems that include interconnection ofmultiple trading networks. Thus, one trading network might have gatewayaccess to an electronic exchange. Then, other trading networks maycommunicate with the trading network that has gateway access through aT1, T3, ISDN, or some other high speed connection.

III. A Second Example Trading System

FIG. 2 illustrates another example trading system that uses similarcomputer elements as shown in FIG. 1, in which, the example embodimentsmay be employed to trade at multiple electronic exchanges. The systemcomprises a trading station 202 that can access multiple electronicexchanges 204 and 208. In this particular embodiment, electronicexchange 204 is accessed through gateway 206 and electronic exchange 208is accessed through another gateway 210. Alternatively, a single gatewaymay be programmed to handle more than one electronic exchange. Router212 is used to route messages between the gateways 206 and 210 and theelectronic exchanges 204 and 208. While not shown in the figure, thesystem may include other devices that are specific to the client sitelike middleware and security measures like firewalls, hubs, securitymanagers, and so on, as understood by a person skilled in the art.Additional electronic exchanges may be added to the system so that thetrader can trade at any number of exchanges, if so desired.

The trading system presented in FIG. 2 provides the trader with theopportunity to trade tradeable objects listed at different electronicexchanges. To some traders, there can be many advantages with amulti-exchange environment. For example, a trader could view marketinformation from each tradeable object through one common visualdisplay. As such, price and quantity information from the two separateexchanges may be presented together so that the trader can view bothmarkets simultaneously in the same window. In another example, a tradercan spread trade different tradeable objects listed at the differentelectronic exchanges.

As indicated earlier, one skilled in the art of electronic tradingsystems will understand that the present embodiments are not limited tothe particular configurations illustrated and described with respect toFIG. 1 and FIG. 2, and will be able to design a particular system basedon the specific requirements (for example, by adding additionalexchanges, gateways, trading stations, routers, or other computersserving various functions like message handling and security).Additionally, several networks, like either of the networks shown inFIG. 1 or FIG. 2, may be linked together to communicatively access oneor more electronic exchanges.

IV. An Example Risk Control System

The example system described below distributes centralized riskmanagement data so that trading is generally not delayed bycommunication with a centralized risk component, while still providingcentralized risk control and management. According to one exampleembodiment that will be described in greater detail below, a centralizedrisk component allocates a fraction of the central risk account balanceto a local risk component that can be located at a gateway. Thelocalized risk component may then manage a local risk balance withoutcommunicating with the central risk component until the local accountbalance is high enough to allow submission of trades corresponding tothe received order requests. Then, as the local account balance getslow, the local risk component may communicate with the central riskcomponent to obtain an additional account balance. This example methodas well as additional functional aspects of the example system will bedescribed in greater detail below.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example distributed risk management system 300, inwhich, the example embodiments for distributed risk management may beemployed. The system 300 includes trading stations 302 and 304 that canaccess multiple electronic exchanges 336 and 338. In this particularexample, the exchange 336 can be accessed through a gateway “A” 318, andthe exchange 338 can be accessed through a gateway “B” 320.Alternatively, each gateway can provide access to both exchanges. Arouter 322 is used to route messages between the gateways 318 and 320and the electronic exchanges 336 and 338. The system 300 also includesrisk management components. More specifically, a central risk controller306 includes a risk management module 308 that is used to control,allocate, and manage risk related parameters corresponding to thetrading stations 302 and 304. The risk parameters can include, but arenot limited to a current available credit, an available margin to placea trade, and/or trading related risk data, such as an overall netposition, a filled net long position, a filled net short position, anopen net position, the current profit/loss level (“P/L”), workingoutright orders, or the combination thereof. Those skilled in the artwill understand that many additional risk-related parameters could beused as well. In general, it should be understood that any equationincluding one or more parameters that control trading could be used aswell for managing risk allocated to each trading stations 302 and 304.

In addition to the central risk controller 306, each gateway 318 and 320is associated with a local risk management component 324 and 330 thatlocally manage risk corresponding to orders received at each respectivegateways, the details of which will be described in greater detailbelow. FIG. 3 illustrates the components 324 and 330 being internal withrespect to each gateway. However, it should be understood that, in analternative embodiment, each gateway could communicate with a standalonelocalized risk management components as well.

According to one example embodiment, it will be assumed that the tradingstations 302 and 304 use a single trading account for conducting tradesat the electronic exchanges 336 and 338 through the gateways 318 and320. However, each trading station could have its own trading account ormultiple trading accounts. The trading account includes one or more riskrelated parameters described above that are used for risk management.For the purpose of this example, let's assume that a risk relatedparameter that is used in relation to the trading account is a monetaryaccount balance available for trading to the trading stations 302 and304, such as, for example, $5,000.

According to one example embodiment, the central risk controller 306 mayallocate a portion of the total account balance corresponding to thetrading account to each local risk management component 324 and 330. Thelocal risk management components 324 and 330 may then locally managerisk data based on the provided risk account balance. According to theexample using $5,000 as the total available account balance, the riskmanagement module 308 could allocate the balance of $1,000 to each localrisk management component 324 and 330. In such an embodiment, the localrisk management components 324 and 330 could locally manage the risk asone or more orders are being sent through each gateway up to the limitof its allocated funds, such as $1,000 in this example. As the localaccount balance gets low, the local risk management components 324 and330 can communicate with the centralized risk controller 306 to obtainadditional funds. It should be understood that different account amountscould be allocated to each gateway based on any preset rules. Methods ofcommunications between the centralized risk controller 306 and localizedrisk management modules 324 and 330 to allocate and manage localaccounts at each local risk management component will be described ingreater detail below in relation to the subsequent figures.

According to one example embodiment, each risk management componentcreates and dynamically updates risk data records corresponding to oneor more trading accounts or traders. FIG. 3 illustrates one suchconfiguration in relation to each risk management component. Forexample, each record created at the risk management component 308 mayinclude an account identifier field, an account balance field, and localallocation records, such as, gateway balance allocation records, “GW A”and “GW B” allocation records, in this example. FIG. 3 illustrates oneexample record created at the risk management component 308 for atrading account being used by the trading stations 302 and 304. Theaccount record includes an account identifier of “9999” shown at 310corresponding to the trading stations 302 and 304, an account balance of$3,000 as shown at 312, and the fund balance that was allocated to eachgateway, $1,000 in this example, as shown at 314 and 316. It should beunderstood that each balance related entry can be updated based on howthe funds are allocated between the localized risk management modules.Also, it should be understood that additional data could be stored ineach record, and the illustrated record is only an example. For example,additional entries could be created when more than two gateways are usedby a trading station to send orders to one or more exchange. Also, whilethe example record show risk parameter in the format of the availabletrading funds, different risk related parameters discussed above couldbe used at the central risk controller 306 in addition to or instead theavailable trading funds.

Similarly to the centralized records being kept at the risk managementmodule 308, gateways 318 and 320 may create and update its own accountrecords once risk data corresponding to a specific account is allocatedto each of them, therefore eliminating the need to communicate with thecentral risk controller 306 to manage risk associated with each tradeorder to be sent to an electronic exchange through the gateways. Oneexample set of records is illustrated in relation to the local riskmanagement modules 324 and 330, with each record using a client “ID”field and “Balance” field, with specific entries shown at 326, 328, 332,and 334. As mentioned in relation to the example provided earlier,$1,000 was allocated to each local risk management module 324 and 334for local risk management of trades made from the trading stations 302and 304 using the account labeled “9999,” in this specific example.

It should be understood that the system 300 shown in relation to FIG. 3is only an example, and different changes in the system configurationcould be made to accomplish the same functionality. For example, ratherthan keeping risk management records at each gateway, each gateway couldcommunicate with a standalone database that could store the records.Also, a single local risk management module could be used for more thantwo gateways that are placed at the same location.

Different methods related to the functional aspects of the distributedrisk management system will be described in relation to the subsequentflowcharts. It should be understood that each block in the flowchartsmay represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which includes oneor more executable instructions stored on one or more computer readablemedia for implementing specific logical functions or steps in theprocess. Alternate implementations are included within the scope of theexample embodiments in which functions may be executed out of order fromthat shown or discussed, including substantially concurrently or inreverse order, depending on the functionality involved, as would beunderstood by those reasonably skilled in the art of the presentinvention. Also, the flowcharts will be described in relation to thecomponents illustrated in FIG. 3. However, it should be understood thatmore, fewer, or different components could also be used to execute themethods described below.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart describing an example method 400 for allocating arisk account balance to a local risk management module. At step 402, thecentral risk controller 306 receives a central risk balance datacorresponding to a trading account created for a trading entity.According to one example embodiment, the central risk balance and thecorresponding trading account may be defined by a system administratoror could be communicated to the central risk controller 306 from anotherentity. As mentioned earlier, the trading account could be used tocontrol trades initiated from one or more electronic trading stationsand/or different automatic trading tools that automatically generateorders to be sent to an electronic exchange. The trading account couldbe identified by a trading identifier. While the example embodimentsdescribed herein use a monetary balance as means for risk management, itshould be understood that the example embodiments are not limited to theuse of monetary balances. For example, non-monetary metrics could beused as well as means by which the example systems can measure andcontrol risk. For example, the risk could be controlled and measuredbased on any other trading related parameters, such as a total netposition that a trader/trading entity is allowed to hold at any giventime, a working order quantity, or a number of tradeable objects thatcan be traded at any given time. Also, statistical risk measures, suchas volatility, the number of traders logged in, or yet some otherparameters, could be used as well.

At step 404, the central risk controller 306 receives a request toallocate to a local risk management module, such as 324, a fraction ofthe central risk balance corresponding to the defined trading account.According to one example embodiment, the request could be communicatedfrom the local risk management module, such as when a first orderrequest is received at a gateway associated with the local riskmanagement module from one of the trading entities that use the centraltrading account. Alternatively, the request could be communicated fromthe trading entity itself upon detecting a trader or some otherautomated trading tool initiating trading. Alternatively, the requestcould be generated internally at the central risk controller 306 upondetecting one or more preset conditions. The conditions that can be usedto trigger the allocation may be based on the trading history,predefined current events, or the combination thereof. For example, uponallocating a risk account balance to one local risk management modulecorresponding to the first gateway, the central risk controller 306could use a trading history record corresponding to the trading entityto determine that there is a likelihood of trades being sent through asecond gateway corresponding to a different localized risk managementmodule. In such an embodiment, the allocation request for the differentlocalized risk management module could be triggered upon detecting thata trader is trading at the first gateway. The conditions could bepreprogrammed.

At step 406, the central risk controller 306 determines if there is acentral account balance to fulfill the request. To do that, the centralrisk controller 306 may use the account identifier provided in therequest to determine if there is any central account balancecorresponding to the trading entity. If there has been no centralaccount balance created for the trading entity, or the balance has beencompletely used, at step 408, the central risk controller 306 may rejectthe request by sending a rejection request message to the local riskmanagement module. According to an alternative embodiment, even if thereis no central account balance, the central risk controller 306 couldshift at least a portion of the available balance from one local riskmanagement module to the requesting module, the methods of which will bedescribed in relation to one of the subsequent figures.

If there is sufficient central account balance available, at step 410,the central risk controller 306 determines a fraction of the balancecorresponding to the central account to be provided to the local riskmanagement module. According to one example embodiment, the central riskcontroller 312 could allocate the requested portion of the central riskaccount balance to the local risk management module. Alternatively, thecentral risk controller 312 could provide a smaller balance than therequested one. According to one example embodiment, the central riskcontroller 312 could be programmed with a number of balance allocationrules to be used for dynamically allocating the account balance betweenthe local risk management modules. The rules could be preprogrammed orcould be based on a trading history, such as for example, the number oftrades being sent through a gateway corresponding to the local. riskmanagement module, or the traded quantity corresponding to orders beingsent via the gateway as compared to other gateways that a trader uses ormay use during a trading day. Different account allocation criteriacould be used as well.

At step 412, the central risk controller 312 provides the allocated riskaccount balance to the requesting local risk management module.According to one example embodiment, the central risk controller 312 maysend a risk data allocation message to the local risk management module,and the message could include risk data to be managed at the local riskmanagement module. At step 414, the central risk controller 312 updatesthe central account records so that the records reflect the allocationof the central risk balance to the local risk management module. Morespecifically, the available balance corresponding to the central accountis decreased by the allocated balance, and a record for the local riskmanagement module is either created or updated with the newly allocatedbalance. As described above, many different risk parameters could beused, and a separate risk balance could be created and managed for eachparameter. For example, one account balance could be created and managedfor a net position, while another account could be associated with themonetary credit still available for trading.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart describing an example method 500 for using andmanaging a risk account balance at a local risk management module. Atstep 502, a local risk management module receives an account riskbalance to be used in relation to making risk determination for tradesthat are initiated at a trading entity. The local risk management modulemay create or update an account record corresponding to the tradingentity to reflect the current available risk account balance. At step504, the local risk management module detects a new trade request fromthe trading entity. According to the embodiment, the request could becommunicated from another component at a gateway that receives orderrequests from the trading entity.

At step 506, the local risk management module determines if there is asufficient local account risk balance to complete the requested tradeorder. For example, when a monetary risk account balance is used, thelocal risk management module may subtract the account balance requiredto complete the trade from the total account balance to see if therewould be any account balance remaining after completing the trade. Asmentioned earlier, different risk related parameters, other thanmonetary credits, could be used as well in relation to the risk accountsbeing kept at the local risk management module and the central riskmanagement module. Also, more than one risk related parameter could bemonitored at any given time before sending an order to an electronicexchange.

If there is a sufficient balance at the local risk account, at step 508,the local risk management module updates the risk balance of its localaccount and allows the order request to be sent to the electronicexchange. However, if the local account balance is not sufficient, atstep 510, the local risk management module may send to a central riskcontroller 306 a request for an additional account balance. According toone example embodiment, the additional balance requested by the localrisk management module may be equal to the balance necessary to allowthe order request to be sent to the electronic exchange. Alternatively,a higher balance could be requested as well.

At step 512, the local risk management module determines if a sufficientrisk account balance necessary to complete the order request wasreceived from the central risk controller. If so, the method 500continues at step 508, and the trade order request is sent to theelectronic exchange. However, if the local risk management module doesnot receive any additional balance or the received balance is still notsufficient for the trade order to be sent to the electronic exchange,the local risk management module rejects the trade order request, asshown at 514. According to one example embodiment, a gatewaycorresponding to the local risk management module may responsively sendan order request rejection message to a trading station that initiatedthe order.

According to another embodiment that was mentioned earlier, rather thanusing the central account balance to allocate additional balance to oneor more local management modules, the central risk controller couldshift the funds from a local management module that has a big riskaccount balance left to the one that needs an additional balance. Anexample method 600 for shifting an account balance between two localrisk management modules will be described in relation to a flowchartillustrated in FIG. 6.

Referring to FIG. 6, at step 602, the central risk controller receives arequest from a first local risk management module for an increase of alocal risk account's balance associated with a trading account. At step604, the central risk controller determines if there is a sufficientaccount balance left in the central risk account to fulfill the request.If the account balance is sufficient, at step 606, the central riskcontroller may provide the requested balance or a higher additionalbalance to the first local risk management module. As mentioned earlier,the central risk management module may be configured with a set of riskallocation rules that may control allocation of the additional funds tothe local risk management modules.

Referring back to step 604, if the balance in the central risk accountis not sufficient, at step 608, the central risk controller may query asecond local risk management module for the current local accountbalance associated with the trading account. At step 610, the centralrisk controller receives the current account balance information fromthe second local risk management module. At step 612, the central riskcontroller determines if there is sufficient local account balanceavailable at the second local risk management module to allocate aportion of that balance to the first local risk management module. Itshould be understood that this determination could be based on a numberof rules, such as a minimum account balance to be held at the local riskmanagement module, time of day, trading activity corresponding to agateway that uses a local risk management module, and many others.

As shown at 612, if the account balance at the second local riskmanagement module is not sufficient to shift it to the first localmanagement module, the method terminates. If there is sufficient accountbalance, at step 614, the central risk controller may send new balanceallocation messages to both the first and second local risk managementmodules. According to the example given in relation to the method 600,the message to the first local management module would include a balanceincrease request, and the message to the second local management modulewould include a balance decrease request. At step 616, the central riskcontroller may update its account records corresponding to the first andsecond local risk management module to reflect the current balanceallocation.

It should be understood that different changes could be made withrespect to the method 600. For example, some method steps could beomitted. According to one alternative embodiment, the central riskcontroller could monitor the orders being made from the trading stationsand could automatically update the records corresponding to differentlocal risk management modules based on the trades that were managed byeach module. In such an embodiment, the steps of 608 and 610 of queryingthe local management modules for their current account balances andreceiving the local account information at the central risk controllercould be omitted since the central risk management module would at leasthave an approximate account balance for each or at least some modules.Also, while the method 600 was described in relation to a single localmanagement module being queried by the central risk controller, thesteps of the method 600 could be repeated in relation to other localmanagement modules that could be used to manage and control risk accountbalance corresponding to the same trading account.

FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate a flowchart that illustrates an examplemethod 700 for automatically monitoring and allocating an additionalaccount balance at a local risk management module.

At step 702, a central risk controller allocates a risk balance to afirst local risk management module and a second local risk managementmodule based on a central risk account balance available for a tradingaccount. As mentioned earlier, many different account balance allocationrules could be used. Also, the trading account could be used by manydifferent trading entities.

At step 704, the central risk controller monitors trading activity ateach local risk management module. To do that, the central riskcontroller could monitor orders being sent from trading entitiesassociated with a trading account via gateways associated with eachlocal management module. According to one example embodiment, thecentral risk management controller could receive order information fromthe trading entities. Such information could be either provideddynamically as the trade orders are being submitted, or periodicallybased on some preset time settings that could vary based on time of day,or some other market or trader related events that may be thought of astriggering submission of orders.

At step 706, the central risk controller updates its account recordscorresponding to each local risk management module based on the tradingactivity corresponding to the trading account. Additionally, each localrisk management module may periodically send to the central riskmanagement module a current risk account balance corresponding to thetrading account. At step 708, the central risk controller detects thatan additional risk balance might be needed at the first local riskmanagement module. According to an example embodiment, thisdetermination may be based on the local account balance being kept anddynamically updated at the central risk management module, as well asone or more account allocation rules that determine the account balanceto be provided to each local risk management module.

At step 710, the central risk controller determines if sufficientbalance is left in the central risk account to provide the additionalbalance to the first local risk management module. If there issufficient balance, at step 712, the central risk controller providesthe additional balance to the first local risk management module. Itshould be understood that the additional balance allocated to the firstlocal risk management module can be based on balance allocation rulesbeing used at the central risk management module to allocate riskaccount balance to local risk management modules.

Referring back to step 710, if the central account balance is notsufficient to allocate the additional balance to the first local riskmanagement module, at step 714, the central risk management moduledetermines if there is sufficient account balance at the second riskmanagement module. According to one example embodiment, the⋅sufficientaccount balance would be at least the additional account balance neededat the first risk management module. If there is no sufficient accountbalance, the method 700 terminates. If there is sufficient accountbalance available, at step 716, the central risk controller determinesif at least a portion of the balance at the second local risk managementmodule can be shifted to the first local risk management module. Suchdetermination may be based on many different account balance allocationrules. For example, the account balance allocation rules could include aminimum account balance rule, a trading activity record that can be usedto determine the account balance that may be needed at each local riskmanagement module, etc.

If the central risk management module determines that at least a portionof the local balance at the second local risk management module cannotbe shifted to the first local risk management module, the method 700terminates. Otherwise, at step 718, the central risk management moduleshifts at least a portion of the local balance at the second riskmanagement module to the first local management module. The allocationof the balance could be accomplished by sending new allocation messagesto the first and second local risk management modules. Morespecifically, an account balance increase message including a request toincrease the account balance level would be sent to the first local riskmanagement module, and an account balance decrease message includingdata including a request to decrease the account balance level would besent to the second local risk management module.

Also, while not specifically described above, two local risk managementmodules could directly communicate with each other to shift accountfunds corresponding to a trading account. In such an embodiment, uponthe allocation of the funds, one of the gateways could communicate withthe central risk management module to provide the updated accountinformation for central record keeping purposes at the central module.It should be understood that the central risk management module couldcontrol which local risk management modules could directly arrange abalance transfer with another local modules. For example, a number ofrules could be programmed that control which local risk managementmodules could directly communicate at any given time. Also, it should beunderstood that the limitations could be based on an account withrespect to which funds are to be transferred.

It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that methodsinvolved in the system and method for multi-market risk control may beembodied in a computer program product that includes one or morecomputer readable media. For example, a computer readable medium caninclude a readable memory device, such as a hard drive device, a CD-ROM,a DVD-ROM, or a computer diskette, having computer readable program codesegments stored thereon. The computer readable medium can also include acommunications or transmission medium, such as, a bus or a communicationlink, optical, wired or wireless having program code segments carriedthereon as digital or analog data signals.

The claims should not be read as limited to the described order orelements unless stated to that effect. Therefore, all embodiments thatcome within the scope and spirit of the following claims and equivalentsthereto are claimed as the invention.

1. (canceled)
 2. A method for risk management in a distributedelectronic trading environment comprising: establishing a centralaccount balance of a first type for a trading account by a central riskmanagement device, wherein the central risk management devicecommunicates with a first intermediary device and a second intermediarydevice; allocating by the central risk management device a first localaccount balance to the first intermediary device and a second localaccount balance to the second intermediary device, wherein the firstlocal account balance and the second local account balance are allocatedfrom the central account balance; providing the first local accountbalance to first intermediary device from the central risk managementdevice, wherein the first intermediary device communicates with a firstelectronic exchange at which a first tradeable object is available fortrading, wherein the first intermediary device receives trade orders tobuy or sell the first tradeable object from a first client device andforwards the received trade orders to a first matching process at thefirst electronic exchange; providing the second local account balance tosecond intermediary device from the central risk management device,wherein the second intermediary device communicates with a secondelectronic exchange at which a second tradeable object is available fortrading, wherein the second intermediary device receives trade orders tobuy or sell the second tradeable object from a second client device andforwards the received trade orders to a second matching process at thesecond electronic exchange, wherein the first intermediary device andthe second intermediary device are different intermediary devices; uponreceipt at the first intermediary device of a first trade order requestcomprising a first trade order to buy or sell the first tradeable objectfrom the first client device associated with the trading account to besent to the first matching process, determining by the firstintermediary device whether the first local account balance issufficient to send the first trade order to the first matching process,wherein, when the first local account balance is sufficient, allocatingby the first intermediary device a first portion of the first localaccount balance to the first trade order and sending the first tradeorder to the first matching process without communicating with thecentral risk management device holding the central account balance;refraining by the first intermediary device from sending the first tradeorder to the first matching process when the first local account balanceis not sufficient; upon receipt at the second intermediary device of asecond trade order request comprising a second trade order to buy orsell the second tradeable object from the second client deviceassociated with the trading account to be sent to the second matchingprocess, determining by the second intermediary device whether thesecond local account balance is sufficient to send the second tradeorder to the second matching process, allocating by the secondintermediary device a first portion of the second local account balanceto the second trade order when the second local account balance issufficient and sending the second trade order to the second matchingprocess without communicating with the central risk management deviceholding the central account balance; refraining by the secondintermediary device from sending the second trade order to the secondmatching process when the second local account balance is notsufficient; upon determining that the first local account balance is notsufficient when the first trade order is received, sending a requestfrom the first intermediary device to the central risk management deviceassociated with the central account balance to allocate an additionalaccount balance to the first local account balance; and upon determiningthat the second local account balance is not sufficient when the secondtrade order is received, sending a request from the second intermediarydevice to the central risk management device associated with the centralaccount balance to allocate an additional account balance to the secondlocal account balance.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein: when the firstlocal account balance is sufficient upon allocation of the additionalaccount balance to send the first trade order, sending the first tradeorder from the first intermediary device to the first matching process;and when the second local account balance is sufficient upon allocationof the additional account balance to send the second trade order,sending the second trade order from the second intermediary device tothe second matching process.
 4. The method of claim 2, furthercomprising: updating by the first intermediary device the first localaccount balance upon sending the first trade order to the first matchingprocess; and updating by the second intermediary device the second localaccount balance upon sending the second trade order to the secondmatching process.
 5. The method of claim 2, further comprising: when thefirst local account balance is not sufficient, sending by the firstintermediary device a request to a local module associated with thesecond local account balance to allocate an additional account balanceto the first local account balance.
 6. The method of claim 5, furthercomprising: allocating by the second intermediary device the additionalaccount balance from the second local account balance to the first localaccount balance; and when the first account balance is sufficient uponallocation of the additional account balance from the second localaccount balance, sending by the first intermediary device the firsttrade order to the first matching process.
 7. The method of claim 2,further comprising: when the second local account balance is notsufficient, sending by the second intermediary device a request to alocal module associated with the first local account balance to allocatean additional account balance to the second local account balance. 8.The method of claim 7, further comprising: allocating by the firstintermediary device the additional account balance from the first localaccount balance to the second local account balance; and when the secondaccount balance is sufficient upon allocation of the additional accountbalance from the first local account balance, sending by the secondintermediary device the second trade order to the second matchingprocess.
 9. The method of claim 2, wherein the first account balancecomprises a monetary balance for the trading account.
 10. The method ofclaim 2, wherein the second account balance comprises a monetary balancefor the trading account.
 11. The method of claim 2, wherein the firstaccount balance comprises a non-monetary balance for the tradingaccount.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the non-monetary balance isbased on a risk parameter associated with trading activity of at leastone trader using the trading account.
 13. The method of claim 11,wherein the non-monetary balance is based on a statistical riskparameter.
 14. The method of claim 2, wherein the first matching processand the second matching process are located at different electronicexchanges.
 15. The method of claim 2, wherein the first electronicexchange and the second electronic exchange are the same electronicexchange.
 16. The method of claim 2, wherein the first electronicexchange and the second electronic exchange are different electronicexchanges.
 17. The method of claim 2, wherein the first intermediarydevice is a gateway.
 18. The method of claim 2, wherein the secondintermediary device is a gateway.
 19. The method of claim 2, wherein thefirst client device and the second client device are the same clientdevice.
 20. The method of claim 2, wherein the first client device andthe second client device are different client devices.